Become A Successful Virtual Assistant

by Melissa Smith

  Marketing

  When is the right time to invest in marketing? It took me almost three years to invest in marketing, and it all started with a marketing and branding strategist coach. The first year I was in business was pretty much a comedy of errors, except I wasn’t laughing. Marketing right out of the gate is never a smart idea. Chances are you don’t have a clear statement, vision, customer identity, and value proposition. I think I changed business cards three times in the first two years! Business cards are cheap. Marketing is expensive!

  Another reason to hold off on marketing in the beginning is because one of the struggles businesses face in marketing are what Jeffrey Shaw calls “breaks in communication.” How we communicate across a multitude of platforms commonly has disconnects. We sound one way on paper, another on video, and yet another in ads. Rarely do we “show up” the way we think we’re supposed to.

  Companies will have you believe it is as simple as putting your name in a publication. Social media and digital marketers want you to believe crafting the right ad will work to bring people to your business. You could spend thousands of dollars on marketing, and you might even get some results. I recommend you don’t promote marketing for your business in the beginning because what you have is not what you’ll end up with. Therefore, the money you spend on marketing is most likely going to be wasted.

  If you’re going to invest in anything, invest in yourself. Invest in your content. When is it time to invest? When you’re confident you have the right path, have a following, and have exhausted all of your free resources. After I worked with a coach, I spent money on consulting services with a marketing strategist. I didn’t do this until I was confident I had done everything in my power, exhausted every free resource, read the books, tried and tested my audience, and was going to hit a wall or, worse, go stagnant.

  When I joined Self-Publishing School, that was the most expensive thing I had purchased for my business, besides coaching. I was joining because they answered all my questions. I knew what I was getting and how what they offered fit into my vision for my business.

  When purchasing anything for your business, ask yourself when the investment will pay off. How many clients would you need to bring on board to break even on your costs? Know why you’re paying money for a service or commodity. Are you paying for someone’s expertise and knowledge, for accountability, for their service, for connections and a community? Any one of these responses is acceptable. However, if you don’t know why you’re purchasing something, you will forget why it’s valuable, regret spending the money, and ultimately not follow through on using the item you purchased.

  Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone Doesn’t Have to Be Painful

  “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”—Neale Donald Walsch

  As a notebook lover, I’ve seen this quote on the cover of several notebooks and journals. It makes sense. You could very well be writing down some things that cause discomfort. Being the kind of person who buys a new notebook or journal for each new project or adventure, I know this quote by heart. Honestly, it’s one of my many favorites. For the longest time, I didn’t truly understand what it meant.

  For some reason, I associated doing new things and trying new growth opportunities as being not just uncomfortable but painful. Like a child ripping off a Band-Aid, everything I did was to hope the pain could be taken all at once and not be a long, drawn out process. I’m not sure where I ever got the idea that being uncomfortable also had to be painful. It is natural to be uncomfortable. It is not natural for it to painful.

  I realized that quote doesn’t say anything about pain. It mentions “comfort.” When I started marketing, I went into it like a dreaded trip to the dentist’s office. Being no stranger to hours in the dentist chair, I remembered all the things my dentist told me in the past. “This is going to sting a little.” “You should feel pressure, but raise your hand if you feel pain.” “Is it sensitive or painful to cold or heat?” The sting, pressure, or sensitivity to things outside our comfort zones in normal. Pain is not.

  When I wrote my first book, I certainly stretched outside my comfort zone. Writing this book didn’t bring the same discomfort as the first. Although this book is for a different audience, I am not challenged by the same things I was while writing my first book. For that project, I was most concerned with hitting the “publish” button. I couldn’t imagine anything scarier. Unfortunately, I didn’t allow myself to think of anything positive either. If I had, the experience would have been completely different.

  This time around my goal was to write better than before. My message is solid. What keeps me up at night is getting the message out—a.k.a. the marketing. I had visions of my face plastered on frisbees and bus benches, littering Facebook with ads, and spamming people like a Nigerian princess. You know, basically, everything that makes you want to put someone’s face up on a dart board and hit the bullseye. That’s painful, right?

  I thought all those things even though I knew I would never market myself like that. I couldn’t shake the traditional methods, new methods, latest trends, and what everyone was telling me to do. And by everyone I mean every email and ad that comes in the form of pop-ups and spam. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. (Because it’s metaphorical, it wasn’t actually painful!) Do what you love! You may have to do it in a new way, but do what you love.

  Sharing my knowledge and educating people is the best part of my day. The joy I receive is unprecedented, and it never gets old. Could I do this in marketing—provide exceptional value and stay true to myself? You bet I can! What will keep me going even though I’m uncomfortable? Knowing you will benefit.

  Stretch yourself outside of your comfort zone. Expect to be uncomfortable. In the beginning you might not even be that great at it. That’s okay! Think back to the pilot of your favorite television show. Then think of the finale. Your favorite actors got better because they stretched themselves. Don’t shy away from discomfort, but avoid pain.

  Are You Taking Advice from the Right Person?

  The world of virtual assistants is growing. There is no shortage of experts and coaches to tell you what to do. However, being a virtual assistant isn’t their career. Most have no administrative background of any kind. So why are you taking advice from them?

  Simply hiring a VA or using a service does not make someone an expert. Why? Because it’s a one-sided deal. The person is only looking out for their needs, not the virtual assistant’s needs. Additionally, they have no idea what goes into the work and what to look for. There is more to being a virtual assistant than checking tasks off a to-do list.

  If they are successful entrepreneurs, why throw their hats in the VA game? For many, the short answer is to make a buck or maybe millions of them. It’s what makes them entrepreneurs. There’s a lot of money to be made in the field of virtual assistance as it continues to grow. But I am doubtful these experts have a passion for the profession.

  So whose advice are you following? What do you want from them? Are they coaches? Are they consultants? And yes, there’s a difference. What is their specialization or niche? Are you their ideal client? It doesn’t matter if someone helped your girlfriend or a colleague. How can they help you? Don’t give money to anyone without doing due diligence.

  Outgrowing

  The downside to growth is that sometimes you outgrow things and people. Not everyone will support you as your business evolves and grows. It’s lonely at the top until you find the party. It’s okay. They are not rejecting you. They are not even rejecting your ideas. People reject what they do not understand. Explaining yourself doesn’t always help. The person who rejects you may need to get there on their own. That’s fine. Be the one waiting for them at the top.

  I remember the day I felt like I had outgrown my clothes. It was like staring into another person’s closet. Another strange occurrence was the timing. It was the day my Admin to VA Summit ended. I thought I would feel relaxed or relief. I didn�
��t. Instead I felt like I stepped into the next version of me. The version that doesn’t wear these clothes.

  If I were at home, I’m fairly certain things wouldn’t have been so drastic. I wasn’t at home though. I was in Morocco. My traveling-the-world wardrobe was not a true representation of how I felt or who I’d become. That day I went shopping and throughout the rest of the year, I shed my old wardrobe for what this new me wears.

  The saying goes “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” Well, I’m a VA matchmaker and consultant, an author, and now I was a summit host too. I don’t have a job. I created my own career. In addition, I had become location independent.

  For years, I’ve witnessed the same transition in others. It could be a bold new haircut, a stunning watch, signature shoes. I knew it was never about what the person was wearing; it was about how the person was owning the look. However, until now I didn’t truly understand what was going on inside of me.

  Others shed things instead of adding. Of course, we all know the famous Steve Jobs look. Some people leave the city and move to the country. There are movements of minimalism and tiny homes. Even though people are downsizing, they are still outgrowing something and making changes.

  What or who have you outgrown? It certainly doesn’t have to be your clothes. Could it be your mindset? Is it your level of clientele? Maybe you’re outgrowing partners in the industry. Outgrowing things isn’t bad. Be concerned if you are in business and never reach a point of outgrowing anything. If you aren’t growing, you are getting passed up!

  Growth can be both exciting and scary, especially when we feel like we’ve outgrown our former self. Dr. Ato (who I previously mentioned in chapter 3) says, “We’re always outgrowing ourselves, but we’re not always paying attention to it. What you are saying goodbye to are aspects of your life you no longer want to bring forth first. Moving through any change, loss or transition requires reintegration. Understanding how it’s affecting you, how you want to get through it, and understanding if you are letting things go they aren’t being thrown out into the universe orbiting somewhere. What you are letting go of is your attachment to them. They are always parts of you. The change is you’re no longer leading with that as your identity.”

  When you truly outgrow your current situation, you’ll know. Then the question becomes, what will you do about it? Dr. Ato says, “When making the leap, be deliberate in your trajectory. Ask yourself, ‘How is this position going to help me get closer to my big life goals?’ We usually get ourselves stuck in the worse case scenario. We tend to overinvest in our fear, rather than overinvesting in our faith.”

  How to Feed Your Faith and Starve Your Fears

  Faith shouldn’t just be reserved for religion. Faith simply is allegiance to a duty or a person. As a virtual assistant business owner, you have a duty to yourself. You are the person who also needs to have your faith.

  I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t understand fear. Fear is a word we not only use, but we choose our own adjectives. We go into much descriptive detail to describe it. In essence, we feed it.

  Starting a business isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Or is it? Let’s think about this for a moment. Rainbows come after the rain. If it were always raining, there would be a flood. However, if it never rained, there would be a drought. We need both sunshine and rain (to make the rainbows) in life and business.

  The problem is we feed fear instead of faith. We ask Fear questions it can’t answer, and often our questions aren’t even probable. We get close to the edge, look over, and scare ourselves. We don’t put up boundaries or fences and let Fear creep onto our property, and then we’re startled when it knocks at the door. Life without fear is not realistic. Living in constant fear isn’t healthy.

  Remember those boundaries you set up at the beginning of your business? You need to revisit them as you grow. You’re growing, which naturally implies stretching your borders. You might need more faith in one thing but less fear of something else. Either way, this requires yet another version of yourself.

  You control your business actions. If you don’t have enough clients, you can change that. If you’re struggling with too many clients, you can implement changes to lessen the burden. If you need help, it’s up to you to get it. Instead, what so many VAs do is sit in fear and wait. There is no greater food source for fear than inaction. Paralysis by fear means you have fed it and it has enough food to live on throughout the winter. Imagine if you fed your faith the same way.

  Remember, to feed your faith is to feed your allegiance to yourself and your business. It’s not an accident. Instead of getting a quick fix and drive-thru meals, which you know are bad for your health, plan a meal worthy of consumption, a meal that will fuel your body. Here’s how to do it:

  Start the morning off with the right energy.

  Feed Your Faith: Notice I didn’t say to start the morning with what makes you feel good. Ice cream makes me feel good. I could eat it every day. But it doesn’t give me energy. Instead of eating ice cream in the morning, I exercise, read, and write. I read motivational daily emails from Marc and Angel Hack Life and TUT (Thoughts Become Things) to encourage and inspire me. When I open my laptop to start my day, I search for these messages first, before I respond to any other emails. It’s amazing how much I look forward to these messages and the energy they give me.

  Starve Your Fear: Quit doing the thing that gives you the most anxiety first thing every morning! I don’t remember the last time I turned on a television in the morning. There was once a time when I watched the news every morning and kept it on in the background as I got ready for work and sent my children off to school. Only when I stopped doing this did I realize how much happier I was. No more awful horror stories or doom and gloom to start my days.

  Schedule your perfect working day.

  Feed Your Faith: Do the work. If you don’t have any clients or enough clients to keep you busy, practice the work you would do for them. Reach out to your ideal clients. Take a free class. Learn something. Be diligent. Choose three things you’ll do today to grow your business. Start connecting and reaching out to potential clients who can make it happen.

  Starve Your Fear: Don’t get dusty. When things aren’t going well, we tend to let our schedules get away from us. This includes checking social media where you find all your friends having better lives than you. It must be true because they’ve got the photos to prove it, right? I’m always amazed when I ask struggling VAs what their days look like, and their schedules are scattered all over the place and they don’t send outbound emails, don’t make calls, and ultimately don’t make any connections. Quit looking at other people’s lives and start creating your own.

  Hire a coach.

  Feed Your Faith: Support and accountability are crucial. I’m not selling you anything, nor am I a coach so I don’t benefit from telling you to hire someone. I’m telling you this because hiring the right coach can make all the difference in the world. You will experience countless benefits when you ask someone with a proven track record to help you uncover blind spots and challenge your perceptions while keeping you accountable.

  Starve Your Fear: Instead of worrying if a coach will make a difference or not, think about how the coach will make a difference. Forget about the “or not.” I didn’t have the extra money to spend on my first coach, but I couldn’t afford not to hire one either. Had I not hired her, who knows if I would even still be in business today.

  Acknowledge your fear.

  Feed Your Faith: Write down your fear and be honest. Don’t add the what ifs or worst case scenarios. Then write down the solution to the fear, and the steps you should take to keep shrinking it until it’s not something you think about every day. Not everything deserves your attention. Focus your attention on the faith of your actions.

  Starve Your Fear: Recognize what your fear is and put up boundaries. Don’t feed it. Don’t pet it or play with it. Without boundaries, the closer it g
ets to you, the more you feed it. It was not meant to consume you or become part of your life like the family pet.

  Fear is a part of life and can even be healthy. The problem is we not only feed it, but we overfeed it and let it bite off our hand in the process. What would your business look like if you spent as much time having faith in yourself and your actions as you spend time worrying? Success is not a place. It’s a mindset. Have faith you will get there, and you will.

  As you continue to grow and expand your business, you drill down deeper, peel back more layers of the onion. When growing outwardly, you’ll find that the inner work becomes more intense and even harder at times. The reason is because as you grow your business the right way, you get to the core of yourself and your unique gifts, passions, and desires. You grow as a person. Growing outwardly without doing the inner work will not help you when you face difficult questions from clients or experience bumps in the road.

  The process doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out, “kumbaya” experience. My last instance of this was while speaking to a friend over Skype. We’ve never met, and I try to keep up with all my personal and close business contacts at least once a quarter. On my social media accounts, I post about what I’m doing. But to keep the relationships strong, I want to know what they are doing. My friend was in the middle of a rebranding and shared his story with me. His name is Dr. Alvin C. Miles, and he teaches mid-career professionals how to advance to the next level in their careers.